Ok, I admit this entry is mostly a time waster before going out to cut my grass.

However, I also do feel the need to give some kudos to Steve Bartman. Any Cubs fan will remember the "Bartman Ball" as it came to be known, and how wrongly vilified Mr. Bartman was when he interfered in that 2003 post season Cubs game and how Cubs Nation blamed him for the Cubs collapse and cited it as the continuation of the Curse of the Goat.

For those not familiar with the incident, yes, Mr. Bartman interfered with one play. The key word is one play (and the umpire blew the call ruling it no interference when the TV clearly show it was). The Cubs were one game away from being the National League Champions and playing in the World series. After the Bartman ball incident, the Cubs had a series of errors on their own and collapsed that year.

In the mythology of Cub lore, it's all "evidence" of the 1945 curse of the goat, ... the Black cat on the field circling Ron Santo in that 1969 Met's game, the ball through Leon Durham's legs in 1984 in what should have been an easy catch, the Bartman ball in 2003, ... etc.

Why am I bring all this up? Well, Mr. Bartman has apparently turned down a $25,000 offer for him to sign a picture of his interfering in that 2003 game.

I admire his integrity. Given my money situation, I'm not sure I'd be able to turn down that kind of an offer.

---Oh, btw, on WGN radio at noon this Sunday the program Cubs Confidential will be profiling Ron Santo. If I remember, I do want to listen to that.

Once again, I've spent more time writing this than I intended. So I need to get a move on it to cut my grass and then head over to Mom's. You know there's not one thing I can point out, but with a *lot* of minor annoyances happening over at Mom's house this past week, this is turning out to be a very stressful week.